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Campbelltown family seeks home while 1-year-old undergoes heart treatment

Single father Matthew Schwartz needs a place for him and his four kids while his son is treated in Hershey

By CHRIS SHOLLYLebanon Daily News

Updated:
12/11/2012 07:14:33 AM EST

Matthew Schwartz, 35, watches as his son, Houston, 1, sleeps in his temporary Campbelltown home last week. Schwartz must find a new home for Houston and his other three children by Jan. 1 preferably in the Campbelltown or Hershey areas as Houston s heart condition is treated at Penn State Children s Hospital. (LEBANON DAILY NEWS CHRIS SHOLLY)

CAMPBELLTOWN - A Campbelltown father is looking for a home where he and his four children - one with a serious heart condition - can live come January.

Single dad Matthew Schwartz and his children are temporarily living on Harvest Lane on the north side of Campbelltown. The family moved from southern York County to South Londonderry Township five months ago in order to be close to Penn State Children's Hospital in Hershey, where his youngest son, Houston, has undergone open-heart surgery and other medical procedures to save his life.

"Our hopes were to be able to find a place close to the hospital, and we were able to find this one," he said. "It made things a lot easier. But it's temporary."

Schwartz has primary custody his children: Lexy, 7; Austin, 6; Kyle, 5; and Houston, who turned 1 on Nov. 18. A group called Houston's Angels has organized fundraising efforts to help the family and secured the current home the family is living in, but the family has to move by January.

With his son's illness, Schwartz hasn't had much time to look for another place.

"The problem now is trying to find another place to go from here," he said. "I have no idea where we're going in January. It's pretty scary."

When Houston was born in 2011, Schwartz noticed his right hand was blue and knew something was wrong. At first, he said, the doctors told him Houston had fluid in his lungs.

"I knew there was more to it than that," he said.

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Doctors at the York Hospital diagnosed Houston with a congenital heart defect and told Schwartz his son needed open-heart surgery. Houston was flown to the Children's Hospital in Derry Township, where on Nov. 21, 2011, he had his first surgery. He was in the hospital about a month, Schwartz said.

Dr. Vincent Aluquin, pediatric cardiologist for Penn State Hershey Children's Heart Group, said Houston was born with what is known as total anomalous pulmonary venous return - the veins were connected to his right atrium instead of his left one - and has developed a complication called pulmonary vein stenosis.

"In layman's terms, he has developed an obstruction of the pulmonary veins after surgical correction of their abnormal connection to the heart," Aluquin explained. "Pulmonary veins are small vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood from the lungs back to the left side of the heart."

Aluquin said there is no cure for the condition, but there are "surgical and transcatheter procedures that can temporarily repair the pulmonary vein obstruction, but it usually recurs a few months later."

Because of Houston's condition, Schwartz took a leave of absence from work to care for him. Initially, he said, he was told he was eligible for the leave under the federal Family Medical Leave Act. But when he returned to his place of employment, he learned he did not qualify because he had not worked for the company a full year. He also no longer had a job; the company was laying off workers.

"For about three weeks, I was putting in applications looking for work," he said.

But he couldn't find another job. Then, at his next visit with Houston's physicians, Schwartz said, he was told his son would need another open-heart surgery. Schwartz stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey while his son underwent his second surgery on Dec. 21, 2011.

"At that point, they thought that was going to work," he said. "They were going to stretch the one pulmonary vein from the left side to the right side and make an incision in the heart to relieve pressure from the right side because he had some swelling the right side of his heart."

Houston was in the hospital for three weeks before he could be taken home to York. In January, doctors told him Houston wasn't doing well.

"They were going to try something else - ballooning - to cut out scar tissue in his pulmonary veins," he said.

Balloon catheterization is performed by sending a flexible tube with a balloon attached to the end from the groin area to the heart, where it stretches the opening of the valve to improve blood flow. Since then, Houston has had to have this procedure done about every three months, Schwartz said.

Schwartz said Houston wasn't expected to make it through the first or second open-heart operations or any of the seven balloonings, the most recent last week.

"The fact that he's made it this far is a miracle," he said. "The only thing they can do for him now is, of course, the ballooning in hopes that he grows and gets older," when Houston would be able to have a heart and lung transplant.

Pulmonary vein obstruction is progressive and fatal, according to Aluquin. A report from Boston Children's Hospital indicates that, after balloon dilation of pulmonary vein stenosis, the estimated survival rate is 65 percent at 6 months of age or 49 percent at 1 year old, Aluquin said. Because it is a rare disorder, he said, statistics for Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital are not available.

Aluquin said it is a good sign that Houston is still alive. But, he added, "this disease typically progresses over time and, ultimately, he may need to undergo lung transplantation."

After Schwartz lost his job - and his medical insurance coverage - he had to sell everything and moved into the basement of his mother's home in June. But traveling back and forth to the hospital from York County took its toll, too.

To save on medical costs, the father was trained by the hospital to care for Houston, who is on oxygen and wears a feeding tube.

When Houston had his second open-heart surgery, Schwartz said, he started a Facebook page for emotional support and as a way to keep his friends and family informed about Houston's condition. In York County, the community came together to help the family, holding various fundraisers. And the Springettsbury Township Police Department worked with a local car dealer to donate a van to the family. Almost everything that is in his current home has been donated, Schwartz said.

"I am very thankful for that," he said.

Tom Daly and his wife, from western Massachusetts, read about Schwartz's plight in June while visiting relatives in York and has been trying to spread the word about the family's situation.

"We both read the story and we were very upset that this family was having to endure this very difficult ordeal," Daly said in an email. "We were truly amazed that the father, Matthew Schwartz, could do everything he was doing to take care of his family. No family should have to go through this and no child should have to go through this."

Daly said they were inspired by Shae Kokomoor of Evansville, Ind., who had become involved with helping the family, "and we were inspired by her efforts to help the family."

"Shae has led the charge on supporting the family," Daly said. "She has been amazing and she has inspired many other people to get involved."

Daly said the effort now is to continue to support the family so Houston can stay near the Hershey Medical Center and that he can receive the best care he can.

"Houston remains in need of continued and ongoing medical treatment," Daly said. "I would ask people in the community to think about what Matt Schwartz has done to care for his children and I ask that they continue to keep this family in their thoughts and prayers and to support the family as best they can."

Schwartz said he has sought, without success, financial help through various foundations that provide assistance to families with sick children. Most foundations focus on specific illnesses, such as cancer. There are no foundations that help families with Houston's particular illness, he said.

"One of the things that I hope to accomplish through all this is to see a foundation set up for children with pulmonary stenosis and their families," he said.

Houston Schwartz has been diagnosed with pulmonary vein stenosis, which is progressive and fatal, according to his cardiologist at Penn State Children's Hospital. Donations for his medical care and the family's needs may be made to the Houston Schwartz and Family Benefit Fund at any M&T Bank branch or mailed to M&T Bank, 1000 Haines Road, York, PA 17401.

In addition, donations may be made online on the Facebook page facebook.com/HoustonT.Schwartz.